


CopyCat

by OneThreateningAcronym



Category: Paranatural (Webcomic)
Genre: Blood, Body Horror, Choose Your Own Adventure, Kind of horror?, highly inspired by rpg maker horror games, mild violence, or something like it, the Activity Club as a whole makes an appearance but they're not major
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-21
Updated: 2016-05-21
Packaged: 2018-06-09 18:01:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6917500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneThreateningAcronym/pseuds/OneThreateningAcronym
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the shadows of the hills of Mayview, a mansion sets that has been long forgotten by time. Who built it? Who lived there? How long has it been there? Why doesn’t anyone remember? These silent, unasked questions simmer just beneath the surface of everyone’s attention. After all, there’s only one thing you need to know about the mansion in the shadows…</p><p>And that’s to stay as far away from it as possible.</p><p>One day on a dare, Ed fails to heed this warning and vanishes into the mansion in the middle of the night. It’s up the Activity Club to rescue him, but the question lingers… what are they rescuing him from? Isabel doesn’t has no idea, but she knows that she isn’t leaving without her best friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. > START

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important Note: At the end of every chapter, there will be links that lead to other parts of the story. It would be in your best interest to click those links as opposed to hitting the next chapter button. The chapters are out of order for the most part, so it won't make sense in the context of the chapter previous. 
> 
> Chapter 7 is an Author's note.
> 
> With that said, have fun and enjoy!

The air hummed; low and droning, in a way that was felt rather than actually heard.

Isabel shivered and pulled her jacket closer, holding her umbrella tight. Her slow, plodding footsteps echoed in the tiny hallway, going on for ages to the point where Isabel had to remind herself that she was alone. An uneasy feeling writhed in her chest, slithering between her ribs and coiling around her heart. Of COURSE Mr. Spender had thought splitting up was a good idea, Isabel couldn’t help but think. The man had never watched a horror movie in his life.

The glasses hooked on the front of her shirt felt heavy and cold.

Isabel gripped her flashlight tighter. “I’m coming Ed…” she muttered. Silence responded, her quiet vow only heard by the eavesdropping walls.

The hallway opened up into a large, ornate sitting room. Moonlight shimmered through cracked windows and faded curtains, illuminating the heavy layer of dust coating every nook and cranny. An old grandfather clock sat against one of the walls with hands forever stuck on 4:27. Isabel made her way around a large, dilapidated arm chair towards the center of the room. Her sneakers kicked up dust in her wake and a cloud of it followed her as she moved across an old, heavy rug. A floorboard creaked when she stepped on it.

It was all so stereotypical it was almost painful.

At least, that’s what Isabel kept telling herself.

She stepped around to look out one of the windows, assuring herself she hadn’t been left behind. Mr. Spender’s rental sat parked out front, dark and empty. Which meant that he and Max were still investigating the basement, Isaac was still on the main floor, and she was only alone in the sense that she was upstairs by herself. Isabel sighed and stepped away from the window. She turned back to the main room. Her flashlight followed her in an arch, glinting off long forgotten baubles and casting jagged shadows.

She meandered across noisy floorboards to a looming bookshelf near the doorway. It was overfilled with books and seemed to strain under the weight of them all. Shelves hung crooked in some areas, other areas had splintered with age. She trailed her hand across a row of eye level books, an odd, lonely sort of melancholy settling in her chest. Most of the bindings were too dusty or faded for Isabel to read, but a few were legible. _Ghastly Apparitions and Where to Find Them, A Guide to Supernatural Fauna, Possessions: Knowing the Signs…_ she could only guess there were more occult books on this shelf.

“Figures,” she mumbled, rolling her eyes. She walked across the room to look at the fireplace, long gone cold. The mirror above the mantle had gone opaque with age and dirt, the frame tarnished and falling to bits. Much like the rest of the mansion, Isabel couldn’t help but think. She sighed and scratched the side of her head, deciding she’d probably spent enough time in here. Ed wasn’t in here, at any rate. No one had probably been in this room in decades. Isabel turned back around-

_Ed was right there._

Isabel, miraculously, refrained from screaming.

She did, however, reflexively try to punch him.

Ed jumped back, equally startled. Isabel reared back, stumbling against the fireplace as she tried to curb her momentum so she didn’t hit him. Her flashlight swung up and glared off of Ed’s glasses. Isabel steadied herself against the fireplace mantle, staring at Ed with wide eyes. Where had _he_ come from? And why hadn’t she heard him coming up behind her…? Isabel tried to quell the panic rising in her and took a deep, calming breath. Ed shuffled awkwardly in front of her, the way he always did when he didn’t know how to approach her. It’s just Ed, she told herself.

It was just Ed.

“Uh…” Ed reached towards her hesitantly, looking about ready to panic himself. Isabel forced herself to calm down.

It was just Ed.

“You scared me half to death!” she snapped, punching him in the arm. Relief flooded in where panic receded and she pulled her friend into a rough, but well meaning hug. “What were you thinking, coming in here by yourself? You could’ve gotten hurt or something!” Ed let out a pained wheeze and Isabel quickly let him go. She laughed a little sheepishly, “Oops, sorry.”

Ed coughed, trying to force some air back into his lungs. He rubbed his arm where Isabel punched him and looked away, and Isabel felt just a little bit guilty. Mostly mad, though. “I guess… I wasn’t thinking,” he admitted, looking back up at her. Isabel stared at her reflection in his glasses and frowned. Ed smiled at her apologetically, “I’m sorry for worrying you, Isabel.”

“I wasn’t worried,” she grumbled, quick to dismiss the blasphemous accusation. Ed snickered. Isabel pouted and punched him in the arm again, which only made him laugh harder. She groaned in exasperation and embarrassment, throwing her hands up in the air. Something knocked gently against her chest. She looked down, bemused, and lifted Ed’s glasses off her shirt. She looked back up at Ed slowly.

“My glasses!” he gasped, reaching to snatch them from her hands. “I was getting tired of wearing my spares. Where’d you find them at?”

Something tried to click in Isabel’s head, and failed.

“There were at the entrance… why’d you bring your spares with you, anyways?” she asked, watching as he stuffed them into his coat pocket.

“It’s always important to bring a spare pair of glasses with you when you plan on visiting a haunted house,” Ed replied dutifully. “I didn’t want to be Velma on the floor while a ghost was trying to eat me.”

Isabel raised an eyebrow at that. “ _Did_ a ghost try and eat you?” she asked. It would certainly explain why Max had nearly crushed Ed’s glasses when they walked through the door…

“Only a little,” Ed answered with a shrug. “Mostly just spooked me, s’all. I was hiding in one of the bedrooms down the hall when I heard you talking.”

Odd, she didn’t think she’d been speaking that loudly. It was a pretty quiet house though, disconcerting creaks and groans aside. She would bet she could hear Isaac downstairs if she listened hard enough, maybe… “Well, it’s a good thing I found you before _it_ did,” Isabel said.

She tried to imagine what spirit lived in this house. Mr. Spender had explained to them, more times than she could count, that the spirit that haunted this mansion was dangerous. He wouldn’t explain _how_ or _why_ it was dangerous, just that it was, and that they should stay as far away as possible. The town had echoed that same sentiment, passing stories down from generation to generation.

 

 _“In the shadows of the hills, a mansion sets, long forgotten by time.”_  

_“Those who enter the mansion after dark will find themselves bound within its walls..”_

_“Until one day, they too, are forgotten.”_

 

It was a childish urban legend. As a spectral, Isabel knew there couldn’t be anything THAT dangerous living so close to normal humans… but still, she couldn’t help but wonder what dwelled in this place that had Mr. Spender and everyone else so scared.

She shook her head and focused on what was more important at the moment. “We should go find everyone and get out of here before it finds us first,” Isabel said, taking a step in the direction she’d come from earlier. A floorboard creaked quietly beneath her foot.

“Where is everyone?” Ed asked, following dutifully behind. The floor creaked beneath his feet, too, at the exact same pitch.

Isabel began to walk, ignoring the bad feeling that started crawling up her back. She pulled her jacket close. “Isaac’s downstairs on the main floor still, I think. Mr. Spender and Max are probably still searching the basement? I feel like they would have come upstairs already if-”

Something cold grabbed her hand. Isabel stopped short and looked behind her, following the hand that had attached itself to her until she reached the end of Ed’s arm. What was all this about? She shot him a questioning look. “Ed?”

“I’d forgotten until you said something…” he began slowly, his face obscured by the light reflecting off of his glasses. “I found a cool secret passage in the room I was hiding in. I think it leads to the basement.”

Isabel frowned and pulled away. Ed released her immediately, but his hidden eyes watched her. Something tried to click in her head, and failed. “I don’t see where you’re going with this,” she told him honestly, confusion creeping into her tone.

“I just think it’d be faster than taking the stairs,” he explained. And, with a bit of a silly grin that eased Isabel’s nerves a bit, he added, “Also I just wanna show off the cool thing I found. It’s not every day you find real live secret passages! There’s probably a bonus boss down there!”

Isabel relaxed, unable to keep herself from smiling at his enthusiasm. It was hard to say “no” to that sort of request. “Let’s hope not!” she laughed, following behind as Ed took the lead towards their new destination without prompting. “Unless you have some cool, finishing move that you plan to bust out, I really don’t feel like fighting whatever the heck lives here.”

Ed craned his head to look back at her, waggling his eyebrows dramatically. “I am full of many secrets… some of which might or might not be super cool finishing moves,” he said, quiet and theatrical. Isabel snorted. Ed smiled at her and returned his head forward, leading her into another long, moonlit hallway.

Windows lined one side this particular hall and made it brighter than the previous room. Vases sat on meticulously placed tables along the opposite wall, filled with the remains of flowers that had long since wilted and withered away. Isabel turned her flashlight off to conserve its battery and followed Ed along the ornate, threadbare carpet that stretched from one end of the hall to the other. The mansion was much, much larger than Isabel had thought at a glance. Who had lived in it, anyways? And how long ago? According to Mr. Spender, the place had been empty for longer than even he remembered…

The car outside caught her eye, still there and still dark. It wasn’t the only notable thing out there this time…

“What are they doing here?” she wondered aloud. She stopped at the nearest window, eyes trained on the small group of four that had suddenly appeared on the lawn. Really though, Johnny and the gang were kind of hard to miss. Even if it was the dead of night. Ed walked backwards back to her, craning his head comically to look out the window before coming to a stop beside her.

“Who?” he asked, earning him a flat look from Isabel. “What?”

“Are you serious right now?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Was he trying to be funny?

“What?” he asked again, a bit more defensively. “It’s dark out!”

Isabel rolled her eyes. “If I can see them, you should be able to see them just fine. Are your spares a really old prescription or something?” she asked.

Ed opened his mouth, then slowly closed it. He looked down at his feet in shame. “...Maybe,” he mumbled, scuffing his shoe against the pale wooden floor.

Isabel sighed. Honestly, what was she supposed to do with him sometimes? “It’s Johnny, Ollie, Stephen, and RJ,” she told him, looking back out the window and down at the bullies. Johnny was gesturing dramatically about something, and even from a distance she could see Ollie shake his head. “I bet they came to help find you. Johnny seemed really sorry when he explained what happened… even RJ apologized.”

“That was nice of him,” Ed replied blandly.

Isabel felt a small shock jolt through her system. Wait. “Him?” she asked. Ed started blankly at her, an eyebrow raising slowly in confusion. The question and the pronoun looked lost on him. Isabel stared back, an uncomfortable feeling scratching at her insides. That... was weird. Though she was willing to chalk it up to stress, she knew Ed always tried to be careful with how he referred to RJ. Especially since Ed had been indoctrinated into Johnny's gang and they were all so friendly now. Certainly, he wasn’t so mad as to be purposely misgendering them? That wasn’t like him. Not at all.

Ed's blank stare quickly grew uncomfortable. He adjusted his glasses nervously and quickly looked back out the window, "So, uh... what are we doing about, uh, that?" he waved a hand in the gang's general direction.

“We're gonna have to let Spender know they're here, ASAP,” Isabel said, turning away from the window. She shook her head to try and clear her uncertainties. They didn't have time for those. "Let's go."

Ed nodded and started walking again, leaving her by the window. Isabel cast one last glance out the window at the bullies. She hoped they made it downstairs before the group decided to come inside. The last thing they needed was a bunch of non-spectrals wandering around in the dark with a dangerous spirit lurking somewhere and, heaven forbid, Johnny Jhonny's raging friend complex…

“Izzy?” Ed asked, standing patiently further down the hall.

“...Coming,” she said, ignoring the anxious feeling that sprung to life in her chest. Something was off. She didn’t know what, yet… but she was going to find out.

Without another word she hurried after Ed, falling in step behind him. The pair made their way down the long hallway, their muffled footsteps the only sound to be heard. It was almost too quiet. The windows soon fell away to doors as they reached a deeper part of the house; made of heavy dark oak and set in warped frames, would they even open? Isabel wasn’t confident, but knew Ed wouldn’t lead her so far just to show her nothing. How far had they walked now, anyways?

Isabel turned to look back the way they’d come. She could barely see the outline of the sitting room they’d met up in. It was nothing but a dim hole now, blurred by a haze of dust in the moonlight. “Are we going the right way?” she asked. “It seems like we’ve been walking a while…”

“We’re almost there,” Ed assured her, the confidence in his voice doing very little to ease her worry. How had he even heard her from this far away, anyways? She really didn’t think her voice could carry this far and _especially_ didn’t think it could be heard through one of those doors. Isabel glanced around nervously, taking in the peeling wallpaper and faded paintings on the walls.

They _had_ to be in a completely different wing of the mansion by now.

Isabel stopped in her tracks. “Ed,” she called, narrowing her eyes at the back of his head. This was taking too long. If they had taken the other way back, they would have been downstairs by now. Unease settled over Isabel like a heavy coat of dust. Ed’s shadowy form paused a few feet ahead of her, but did not turn around. Isabel realized how fast the light had faded after they left the previous hall and quickly turned on her flashlight.

Light exploded in the hallway and lit up Ed’s back, casting a looming shadow into the hall ahead. Isabel felt a chill run down her spine and knew that, this time, it wasn’t because the house was cold.

“We’re almost there, I promise,” Ed said, turning to face her finally. There was a smile on his face; a familiar smile that should have made her feel better. Somehow, it did the opposite. Light glared off his glasses, bright and eerie, and Isabel aimed the flashlight a little lower as to not blind the both of them. “Just a little further?” he begged, clasping his hands together pleadingly. He tilted his head at her, not unlike a puppy that wanted something…

The glare on Ed’s glasses vanished and Isabel found a pair of unfamiliar eyes staring at her behind her friend’s lenses.

_… or a cat beckoning a mouse to come play._

Isabel felt panic rise in her throat and took several, hurried steps backwards. She nearly tripped on the carpet. The being watched her, confusion briefly flickering on Ed’s face. It took a step towards her. Isabel took a step back and held tight to her tool, fingers locking around it in a death grip.

“Izzy?” Ed’s voice, bemused and familiar, _too familiar_ , asked. It shifted, hiding its eyes again behind a sheen of light. Isabel felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. There was a part of her, doubtful and nagging, that told her that it was just her imagination. That she was stressed, that it was dark, that it was just the lighting…

> [“Sorry, it’s nothing.” ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6917500/chapters/15780598)  > “[Drop the act already.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6917500/chapters/15780586)”


	2. > RUN AWAY

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Come on, Izzy, what do you say?”

Isabel didn’t even bother to deign the spirit’s stupid question with a response.

Isabel turned on her heel and  _ ran.  _ She shot off like a rocket down the hall, kicking up clouds of dust in her wake. The beam of her flashlight swung wildly in her hand and lit everything she passed in a desaturated blur. Her feet hit the ground in heavy, frantic thuds that echoed through the hall like her heartbeat in her ears.

She had to get away.

She had to find everyone.

She had to find help.

The copy cat Ed sighed and it sounded as if it were right next to her head. Isabel bit back a shriek and forced her legs to carry her faster.

“Isabeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel…” the spirit whined somewhere out of sight. Isabel sprinted into the moonlit hallway. Dust hung in the air like a fog, obscuring her vision. “Come on, Izzy! I don’t feel like playing with you anymore, I’m being serious here…” the spirit called. It was behind her, somewhere. Isabel just couldn’t tell where. She didn’t turn around to look.

Dust stung her eyes and made them water. It was the closest she would let this thing get to making her cry. She was scared… no, she was terrified. But she would be okay so long as she found someone.

Isabel slipped on a loose piece of carpet and hit the floor  **hard** .

“Ah!” she skidded across the floor painfully. Isabel curled in on herself, waiting for her momentum to stop, just  _ stop _ . In a tumble of limbs she slid to a standstill, moonlight shining down on her like a spotlight through the windows. Isabel shakily crawled to her feet. Pain seared through her limbs. She looked around blearily, trying desperately to see through the dust and get her bearings.  _ This was not normal dust. _

The floor creaked somewhere to her left. Isabel decided that, no matter what, she wasn’t going THAT way. She guessed at the direction she’d been going and raced onwards, hoping against hope she’d chosen right.

Something fell in step behind her, too close for comfort.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Isabel,” the spirit said, its voice crystal clear in her ear. Isabel ignored it and burst through the doorway of the sitting room. Visibility increased drastically and Isabel identified the door on the other side of the room with ease. Something too cold to be a breath brushed against her neck.“I want to be your  _ friend _ .”

The overburdened bookshelf caught Isabel’s eye. An idea took shape in her mind, imprecise and tactless. But she was running out of options.

Isabel gripped her umbrella in her hand.

“This isn’t how you start a friendship!” she shouted back. Choked by dust, she hated how her voice wobbled. The doorway grew closer and closer with every step. Isabel braced herself. With every ounce of strength she could muster, she threw herself through the door frame. She swung through the air and turned, aiming her umbrella at the wall. Spectral energy wafted off of it like steam; it swirled in a vortex at the point like the eye of a storm. “But this is how you start a war!”

A concentrated spec shot blasted off the umbrella like a bullet.

It smashed through the wall and into the bookshelf on the other side, sending it toppling in an explosion of splinters and shredded pages.

Isabel and an entire mountain of books crashed to the ground.

She strained to sit up, leaning on her elbows as the dust  _ finally  _ settled. The entire doorway laid in ruin before her; the wall was half collapsed and the floor strained under the unexpected abuse. Isabel could no longer see the room on the other side, obscured by torn books and fractured wood. She panted, trying to catch her breath as she stood.

It was silent.

Unnaturally silent.

Well, aside from the ringing in her ears, but that was to be expected. On her feet now, shaking but steady, Isabel hurried away from the destruction. 

The air hummed in her ears; low and droning, in a way that she felt rather than actually heard. 

Isabel shivered and pulled her jacket closer, holding her umbrella tighter in her grip. Her slow, plodding footsteps echoed in the tiny hallway, going on for ages to the point where Isabel had to remind herself that she was alone. Oh, how she hoped she was finally alone. She limped as fast as her body would allow. She felt like she just got out of an intense fight with Johnny Jhonny… if Johnny Jhonny was an obnoxiously overpowered spectral. 

Isabel snorted out a laugh at the very thought.

_ Thud thud thud thud thud thud thud _

Isabel stopped. Ahead of her, the banister of the stairwell stretched out that lead to the foyer. Someone was coming up the stairs. Isabel took a step forward and gripped the railing, raising her umbrella in anticipation...

The first thing she saw was the glint of Mr. Spender’s sunglasses: as useless as always in the dead of night. Max’s cap followed along close behind the teacher on the staircase, Isaac’s… orange-ness not trailing far behind. Isabel let out a hefty sigh of relief, relaxing in an instant…

Until she saw what Mr. Spender was carrying in his arms.

Or, more accurately,  **who** .

“Ed!” Isabel cried out. She rushed towards the group, tripping over her own unsteady feet in her haste. She nearly tripped, but Isaac caught her. He steadied her, laying an anxious hand on her shoulder. She ignored him, reaching desperately for the dust covered boy cradled in her teacher’s arms. She grabbed Ed’s shoulder and shook him, calling out his name, “Ed!”

“Isabel, what happened?” Isabel glanced up sharply. Mr. Spender looked down at her, worry evident on his face. 

“I…” she trailed off. Words raced through her head, sentences fragmenting before she had the chance to make them make sense. So much had happened, where did she even start? Isabel swallowed and let out a weak cough. Dust clung to the inside her throat, sticky and choking. She leaned into Isaac as the weight of everything that happened settled in. “Where did you find him?” she whispered.

Mr. Spender and Max exchanged worried glances.

“He was in the basement,” Mr. Spender responded quietly, looking down at the unconscious boy he held. Isabel followed his gaze. Ed’s breathing was shallow; his chest rose and fell in imperceptible intervals, Isabel was almost sure he wasn’t breathing. Mr. Spender continued in a solemn tone, his hands caked in the excess dust that came off of Ed’s body. “He was behind a hidden door. It was lucky that Max spotted it…”

Out of the corner of Isabel’s eye, she saw Max duck his head under his hat. He pulled the brim over his eyes, like he was trying to avoid looking at the dusty body of their friend as much as possible. Isabel couldn’t blame him. Isaac gripped her shoulder in support. Isabel appreciated the gesture, though she couldn’t find her voice to say as much. She stared at Ed and traced the dusty fractals that spread across his skin. He looked so fragile, so pale…

… so, so small.

_ CRASH _

The Activity Club all jumped. All at once, their eyes flew to the foyer where the sound originated. 

_ CRASH _

The heavy, oaken doors shook in their hinges. Wood shavings and dust cascaded from the doorframe from the impact, falling in a plume to the floor. The group hurried down the stairs to the ground floor. Isabel held her umbrella at the ready while Isaac, who supported her still, called lightning to his free hand. It crackled in the silence, burning any dust that was caught in its range. Max moved to stand in front of Mr. Spender, legs shaking, but bat held high and ready to strike.

This was probably the least threatening they had ever looked, but it was all they could muster.

Mr. Spender stood behind the children, Ed’s body cradled protectively in his arms.

_ CRASH _

 

_ CRASH _

 

_ CRASH _

 

**_BOOM_ **

 

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Johnny and the gang burst through the doors screaming.

The Activity Club screamed at them in preparation to attack.

Both groups, realizing they were screaming in unison, stopped abruptly. They stared at each in dumbstruck silence for several seconds.

“...Um,” Mr. Spender said.

“.....What,” Ollie dead panned.

“UM???” Johnny gestured at them in obvious confusion, flailing his arms wildly at the spectrals.

“...Who’s supposed to talk first?” Isaac asked, quickly dismissing his lightning. The Jang stared at him blankly. “I think it should be you guys. Since, y’know, you literally just broke in here.”

“UMM???” Johnny reiterated eloquently, pointing at them. He took a bold step forward. “I think it’s YOU GUYS who have some explaining to do! What the heck did guys lock yourselves in here for!?”

“To keep idiots like you out!” Isaac shot back, rising to Johnny’s challenge.

“School field trip,” Mr. Spender responded neutrally.

“FALSE!” Stephen declared, joining Johnny as he dramatically pointed at the club members. “School field trips, club related or in general, are not allowed to last past midnight!”

“Oh really?” Max asked. He lowered his bat and leaned back, staring accusingly at Mr. Spender. Mr. Spender coughed awkwardly and looked away.

Johnny looked to Isabel at that moment. He looked at her, barely for a second, before his entire expression shifted. Isabel looked away and tried to ease some of her weight off of Isaac’s shoulder. She winced. Johnny narrowed his eyes.

“You came in here looking for four eyes, didn’t you?” he asked her, tone dropping into something decidedly more serious. 

“...Of course we did,” Isabel grumbled. She glared at him. “Did you expect us not to?”

“Of course I expected it. I would have done the same thing, if it was one of my dudes…” he trailed off, casting an aside glance at his assembled gang. He looked back to Isabel, “I kind of expected you’d ask us for help.”

“This doesn’t involve you,” Isaac stated icily. Johnny’s gaze shifted to the ginger. Isaac stared right back at him. “It’s your fault Ed came in here in the first place.”

“Which I feel BAD about,” Johnny emphasized. He crossed his arms defensively while the rest of his crew looked at their feet. “That’s why I told Guerra what happened! I didn’t actually think he’d do it! I thought the legend would scare him off and he’d just-”

Johnny cut himself off abruptly, something akin to realization dawning on his face. 

“Where is Ed, anyways?” Johnny asked, looking from Activity Club member to Activity Club member with a frown. “Did you guys not find him yet, or…?” Johnny trailed off. His frown deepened as he watched the groups’ expressions all go somber. Max shifted from one foot to the other… and that’s when Johnny saw him.

Isabel flinched, watching as the situation registered on Johnny’s face. Johnny took a slow step forward. Disbelief colored his expression, guilt weighing down on his shoulders. Johnny slouched, the animation that normally accompanied his gestures lost as he stared at Ed’s unconscious face. Behind him, the rest of the group seemed to grasp that something had happened. They all shared a nervous glance. The implications slowly sank in for them, as well.

“Is… is that…?” the redhead started, for once at a loss for words.

Johnny didn’t get the chance to voice his question.

Behind the gang, the doors slammed shut with a loud  _ BANG. _

Everyone whipped their heads to look at the door, eyes going wide. Immediately, Ollie and RJ were at the doors, trying to pry them open. Johnny darted to one of the windows to check outside. Isabel felt a chill go up her back, and she knew it wasn’t just because the temperature of the room plummeted.

“Ah!”

Ollie and RJ lept back from the door, holding their hands as if they’d been burned.

Something dark and sickly gray began to spread out from the door handles. Like frost it advanced across the wood, stretching across the door until it reached the walls. Isabel watched on in horror as the dust completely overtook the windows. It blocked out the moonlight as it spread, leaving her flashlight as the brightest thing in sight. 

“Oh  _ geez _ …” Max breathed out in disbelief, his voice tinged with unsaid horror. In the dark, Isabel couldn’t see his face, but she could imagine it. She was sure she wore a similar expression.

Isaac tensed beside her. His grip on her shoulder tightened. She couldn’t tell if it was in fear, or anticipation. His skin crackled with electricity and nervous energy.

Isabel followed the dust across the walls with her flashlight; it spiralled out from the front doors, crawling up the walls and extending out of sight into the floors above. She wouldn’t doubt that if they checked the other floors, they would be in a very similar state. The dust shimmered eerily under her light, so much like frost, but Isabel recognized it for what it was instantly. She’d run through  _ clouds _ of it. 

Somewhere in the darkness, Isabel heard Johnny banging against one of the blacked out windows in vain. She turned her flashlight to the door were the rest of the gang, and Max, were attempting to pry open the doors.

They were not succeeding.

A sense of dread fell over Isabel; at the window, Johnny let out a frustrated shout.

They were trapped.

 

**TO BE CONTINUED……?**


	3. > DROP THE ACT ALREADY

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "There was a part of her, doubtful and nagging, that told her that it was just her imagination. That she was stressed, that it was dark, that it was just the lighting…"

Isabel stomped the doubtful voice in her head into silence.

“Drop the act already,” she snarled, her voice dangerously low.“I **know** you’re not Ed.”

The spirit froze. Like a deer caught in headlights it stared at her, Ed’s familiar smile gone as it slowly drew its mouth into a fine line. It was positively eerie how perfectly this spirit imitated Ed’s mannerisms. Where was Ed, really? Was he in the mansion somewhere? Isabel grit her teeth, preparing herself for anything this thing might throw at her. Wherever Ed was, she was going to find him and there was no way some spirit was getting in her way.

Something in the false Ed’s posture shifted. It was almost imperceptible, but Isabel noticed the change immediately.  It stood a little taller, now, all pretenses of familiarity gone. It’s face shifted into a terrifying smile, all teeth and no joy, and it slowly removed Ed’s glasses from its face. It hooked them on the front of Ed’s green sweater and let out a hefty sigh.

Bright, predatory eyes looked up to meet hers. “Well shucks. And I thought I had my act pretty down pat,” Ed’s voice said, perfectly pitched. As if Mr. Spender had just vetoed one of Ed’s pranks. Like someone had just ruined his fun. The spirit craned its head curiously at her. “Did the eyes give me away? I didn’t get a good look at them, so I kinda just guessed…”

The creature reached a hand to its face and, to Isabel’s horror, plucked one of its eyes from Ed’s sockets. It came out with ease, sliding out as if it were an interchangeable part from a toy. Isabel felt bile rise in her throat and her legs went weak. Ed’s empty left eye socket stared back at her, while the other eye examined the one in the spirit’s hand. “Those glasses are pretty obstructive, aren’t they? I couldn’t even get them off of him until I knocked him out, and, well…” It shrugged, as if the next part of its sentence should be obvious. “Oh well. Lessons learned, right?” it asked. It looked dead at her. The smile on the spirit’s face persisted.

Isabel’s heart pounded in her chest. She felt herself shaking, though whether it was from rage or fear, she didn’t know… whatever it was, it rooted her feet to the spot. Isabel didn’t think she could move if, even if she wanted to. “Where’s Ed?” she demanded, her calm tone forced.

The spirit rolled its eye at her in an over exaggerated fashion. “Oh, who cares about him right now?” it asked, “I need your help deciding what color to go with. Green would match fairly well, wouldn’t it?” It flicked the eyeball in its hand like a doctor flicking a syringe, and the eye staring at her burst into a vibrant shade of forest green. “Oh, oh! But blue just goes so well with blond, don’t you think? I’m partial to brown, personally, similar to your shade. Mayhaps a mix of the two?”

With every color it listed off, the spirit’s eyes changed color as it fiddled with the eyeball carefully held in its fingers. It was fascinating to watch in the same way as a car crash; Isabel’s stomach churned in horror, but she couldn’t stop staring. _What the flip was this thing’s deal?_

Isabel shook her head furiously. She had stay focused. For Ed. “Shut UP!” she snapped, glaring at the infuriating fake. “What the heck does it matter what color your eyes are? You aren’t going to need them where _I’m sending you if you don’t tell me where my friend is!_ ” she brandished her umbrella, waves of spectral energy rolling off it like an angry ocean.

The spirit paused in its monologue, gave her a bored once over, and tutted in disapproval. “Now that just won’t do,” it commented, tossing the eye in the air and leaning back to catch it with its face. It looked back at her, left eye lolling a bit to the side like the eye of a broken doll. The spirit closed its eyes and opened them. Two perfectly normal eyes watched Isabel now… in disapproval. “I’m trying to work with you here, Isabel, but this agreement needs to be a two way street.”

“I didn’t agree to **anything**!” Isabel yelled.

It stared at her blandly. “There are only so many outcomes to this situation,” it explained, its tone too serious for the face it wore. “I’m offering you the outcome where you get to leave.”

Isabel frowned, confusion bleeding into her anger. “I’m not leaving without Ed!”

“Well, of course not!” the spirit replied, seemingly appalled at the very idea. Isabel found that she suddenly didn’t understand anything anymore. “I wouldn’t dream of taking your best friend away from you. But that’s why I need your help, Izzy! After all…”

The spirit smiled at her then, looking so much like Ed in that moment it made Isabel feel ill.

“… I need someone to vouch for me when we leave!”

The words echoed down the long, empty hallway; bouncing off door frames, resounding off windows, and petering into white noise as if the words had never been spoken.

Their impact lingered in the silence that followed.

Isabel felt as though she’d been struck. She stared at the spirit. Muted by shock, she scrambled to try and find something to say in reply. Was this thing being serious? It couldn’t be, could it? Surely it knew she would never agree?

The spirit watched her expectantly. In the chilly hallway lit only by Isabel’s flashlight, it watched her and it _grinned_.

It WAS serious.

And it already thought it had won.

Something fiery and hateful sparked in Isabel’s veins. She brought her umbrella up, readying herself. She didn’t care how hard she had to fight, or how many times she was going to have to punch this smug jerk in the face. She was going to **make it** tell her where Ed was. Her expression twisted, angry and violent, and she glared at the spirit that dared to wear her best friend’s face.

“You’re. _NOT._ **_ED_ ** ,” she growled between clenched teeth.

The spirit raised an eyebrow at the unfortunate change in her demeanor.

“But I _could_ be,” the spirit reasoned, shaking its head. It sounded more amused than threatened, and Isabel remembered very suddenly that this was a spirit that scared Mr. Spender. Her anger quickly tapered off. Could she win in a fight with this thing? Did she even stand a chance? The spirit gave her a familiar, pleading look. “I could be everything you ever wanted in a best friend. I would never embarrass you in front of our classmates. I wouldn’t run and hide when you needed me the most. I would be _there_ for you, Isabel, in ways that Ed is simply too much of a coward to be...”

It tilted its head towards her, not unlike a puppy that wanted something…

“Come on, Izzy, what do you say?”

 

> [RUN AWAY](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6917500/chapters/15780541) > [BEAT THE SNOT OUT OF HIM](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6917500/chapters/15780646)


	4. > SORRY, IT'S NOTHING

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "There was a part of her, doubtful and nagging, that told her that it was just her imagination. That she was stressed, that it was dark, that it was just the lighting…"

“Sorry,” Isabel said, shooting Ed a strained, but apologetic smile. “It’s nothing. Not much farther, right?”

Ed grinned at her, friendly and easy. “It’s just down this hall. I _promise_ , Izzy, it’s going to be worth it.”

Isabel nodded and found it hard to return his smile. She managed, though. Without any further interruption, she followed Ed deeper into the mansion…

 

_BAD END: DO YOU HAVE ANY SENSE OF SELF PRESERVATION?_

[Load last save?](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6917500/chapters/15780448)


	5. > BEAT THE SNOT OUT OF HIM

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Come on, Izzy, what do you say?”

“I say…I SHOULD HAVE PUNCHED YOU WHEN I HAD THE CHANCE!”

Isabel lunged at the spirit without giving a single thought to the consequences.

The spirit watched her and let out a heavy, disappointed sigh. “Oh, Isabel, I’m sorry…”

The spirit dodged, faster than Isabel’s eyes could track. She reared back, using her momentum to spin around on her heel. Something cold, wet, and solid slammed into her head in time with her movement. She cried out in pain and stumbled, nearly falling. Her vision went dark for a moment. It came back just as quick, black spots dotting her vision. Isabel caught herself on a nearby end table and hauled herself back onto her feet. Her shoes slipped on the carpet. Tears stung in her eyes, further blurring her vision. Something warm and sticky leaked down the side of her head…

The copy cat Ed stood before her, twirling something almost like a paintbrush in its fingers. It had donned its glasses again, and Ed’s face stared pityingly at her. Something lurched in Isabel’s stomach. She swayed on her feet, trying to keep her balance. She held her umbrella up defensively and tried to think through the pain.

“I’m sorry… but that was the the wrong answer,” the spirit said.

It was at her side in an instant, a hand wrapped around her throat. Isabel choked on a breath. She tried to struggle.

She couldn’t move.

She tried again. She tried to kick the spirit. Tried to do _something._

She couldn’t move.

She tried again, desperately calling out to the spirit in her umbrella.

Nothing happened.

Something like ice spread out from the spirit’s fingers, spreading across her skin with terrifying speed. She felt it crawling across her, millimeter by millimeter. Her limbs began to fall asleep, like a million pins and needles prickling across her body. She was going numb.

“Nighty night, Izzy,” Ed said. He smiled warmly, watching as she tried in vain stay keep her eyes open.

She tried to call for help.

But no one came.

She was cold. So, so cold.

She choked on the dust in the air.

Isabel’s vision went black.

 

* * *

 

“Easy there, Ed,” Mr. Spender said, helping the shivering blond up the last stair and into the foyer. “Try not to exert yourself too much. We’ll get you checked out by Dr. Zarei as soon as we get out of here.”

Ed nodded shakily, trying to force a smile through his chattering teeth. Max had vanished not long ago to go and locate Isaac at Mr. Spender’s request. From there, it would be their job to find Isabel and the three of them would meet Ed and Mr. Spender on the lawn. Outside. Where it was safe. Ed sneezed, disrupting an inordinate amount of dust that had managed to settle on him while he was unconscious in the basement.

Several pairs of frantic footsteps ran their way.

Ed squinted at the blurry, human shaped masses that came towards them. Life without glasses was suffering.

The trio became identifiable the closer they got. Max, Isabel, and Isaac came to a stop in front of them, expressions unreadable as they stared at him. For a brief second, no one moved.

And then Isabel was hugging him. In an instant, Ed was wrapped in a crushing hug. He jumped, startled by the sudden burst of affection. He hugged her back carefully… before wrapping her tightly in his arms. He could cry he was so happy to see her. His eyes watered, threatening to make good on that option. Ed sniffled into her jacket.

“You _idiot_ ,” Isabel grumbled into his ear. “What were you thinking, coming in here by yourself? You could’ve gotten hurt or something…” she chided, pulling away. Isabel kept her hands on his shoulders, gripping the fabric of his sweater like she was afraid he’d vanish if she let go. Ed braced himself for a punch that never came. Instead, she stared into his eyes for a very long, intense moment. Ed fidgeted, unsure whether to apologize, or tell her that he was ok…

Isabel reached into one of her pockets and pulled out his glasses. “Bet you probably want these back, don’t you?”

Ed’s face lit up. “My glasses!” he happily grabbed them from Isabel’s hands and put them on. Ed blinked a number of times as the world came back into focus. He looked at Isabel’s smiling face. He grinned stupidly. “I can see…” he breathed out, awe in his voice. Isabel rolled her eyes. Ed struck a dramatic pose. “I… CAN….

...ACHOO!”

Ed groaned, trying to shake some of the dust off of himself. Honestly, where had it even come from? Isabel snickered and Max and Isaac barely tried to hide their amused grins. Ed found himself smiling, too. He was so happy to see them.

“Alright, alright, we can have this reunion outside, can’t we?” Mr. Spender asked. He pushed Ed and Isabel towards the door impatiently. “We’re not out of the woods yet, you know. That spirit could be lurking anywhere…”

Ed shivered at the thought. Max and Isaac sobered as well. Max gripped his bat tightly in his hands and glanced around the dilapidated room. “I really don’t understand why you let something so freaking dangerous live around here,” he said, shooting Mr. Spender a look.

“We can’t really relocate it,” Mr. Spender explained. It sounded as if they had had this conversation several times while in the basement. “It’s a bit complicated to explain. Maybe when you’re older…”

“You said that when I was 12,” Isaac pointed out with a glare.

“You still haven’t matured mentally,” the teacher responded coolly. Isaac rolled his eyes and huffed, crossing his arms. “Now then. If everything’s settled, we need to get going. Preferably before anyone notices my car outside.”

“Johnny and all his friends are on the lawn,” Isabel piped up helpfully.

There was a beat of silence.

“Well then, let me leave first so I can try and smooth things over…” Mr. Spender said after a moment. He weaved around Ed and Isabel and practically power walked to the exit. He threw the doors open with a dramatic flourish and marched outside.

Max and Isaac sighed and followed him out to do damage control.

Moonlight cascaded through the open door, illuminating the permanent haze of dust that seemed to reside in the mansion. A warm, summer breeze blew through and ruffled Ed and Isabel’s hair. It was the freshest air to pass through the mansion in decades.

Next to Isabel, Ed shuffled his feet nervously, unsure of what to say. He glanced at her, and quickly averted his eyes. “I’m…” he sighed. “I’m sorry for worrying you, Izzy...” Ed mumbled, clenching and unclenching his fists.

Something cold brushed his hand. Ed looked down, watching as Isabel interlaced their fingers together. He looked at her, dumbfounded.

“You scared me half to death, Ed,” she said flatly, staring out the door to the sky. Her expression was hard to read at this angle. It made Ed nervous, how out of character she seemed. “Just… don’t **ever** do something so stupid like that again, ok?” she turned her head to look at him, eyes soft and pleading. She looked like she was holding back tears.

Ed felt guilt tug at his heart strings.

“I _promise_ ,” Ed said sincerely, squeezing her hand. Isabel gave him a warm smile, satisfied by his answer. He smiled back just the same.

The moment only lasted a second.

Isabel let go of his hand and marched a few steps towards the door, pounding a her fist into her hand. He could almost imagine the evil grin on her face when she said, “I think it’s time to go and teach those boys a lesson.”

...Wait.

Ed frowned. “Isn’t RJ out there?” he asked, trying to spot the green hoodie through the chaos of Mr. Spender trying to make up a cover story.

Isabel paused for a moment before she responded. Which was odd, Ed couldn’t help but think, because she was normally very prompt when talking. When she did reply, her voice was quiet. She spoke in a tone laced with something Ed couldn’t quite place… something tried to click in his head, and failed.

“Oh, of course,” Isabel said. She turned back to look at him, her eyes hidden by an oddly falling shadow.

“How could I forget about **_them_ ** _?_ ”

 

[Continue →](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6917500/chapters/15780679)


	6. > CONTINUE

Snow falls from the sky, fluttering down in the morning light to land on the already blanketed ground. It clings to trees and creates icy sculptures, and settles on rooftops to sparkle in the sun.

A chilled wind blows through an empty mansion that sets in the shadows of two hills. It dances through hallways and flits through every crack it can find. The mansion groans, not especially fond of the cold. But winter had never especially cared for the mansion’s taste in weather, anyways.

The breeze forces its way through the spiderweb cracks of a window on the second floor. The bedroom it finds itself in is incredibly fancy. Cabinets lined with all manner of perfumes and makeup line one of the walls, only dwarfed in size by a vanity that long since lost its mirror. A wardrobe looms, ornate and carved, unopened for decades near the door. In the very center of the room sits a large, poster bed with faded, deep red curtains.

Curtains that were drawn closed against such chilly intruders.

The breeze bursts its way through anyways, curious to what lies hidden on the other side. It ruffles the curtains and slips inside, brushing against the cheek of the sole resident of the mansion.

A girl lays atop the comforters; her head propped up on large pillows with her dark hair splayed out across the cream colored fabric. Her arms lay flat at her side, cold and still in the sleeves of her jacket. A jacket far too thin for winter, really. Her breathing is shallow, almost nonexistent. One couldn’t be blamed for thinking it was their imagination that she moved at all. Then again, it wasn’t as though she ever had any visitors.

The breeze came again and brushed her cheek, as if attempting to dislodge the dust caked to her skin. Her skin had been darker at some point, surely. But the dust covered her like frost; spreading over her skin and through her hair, clinging to her eyelashes and sticking to her lips. It made her look pale. It made her look frail.

It made her match the rest of the mansion proper, as though she’d always been a part of it.

It was the dawn of her third winter spent deep in slumber, forgotten by the world.

And, as always, she couldn’t open her eyes to see it.

 

_BAD END: DUST COVERED COMA_

[Load last save?](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6917500/chapters/15780586)


	7. Author's Note

Hello and thank you for reading “CopyCat”! I started writing this a few months ago while playing a bunch of RPG Maker Horror games and, if you couldn’t tell, that influenced the story quite heavily. While I was writing this the main thought I had in my head was “dang, this would make a cool video game. Like,  _ gosh dang _ this would make a cool video game”.

However, I have zero experience with that kind of thing. So I wrote it instead (and will just continue dreaming of making a Paranatural game). I haven’t decided whether or not I’m going to do more with this idea yet. There are ideas in place and plots in the making, but doing an entire series like this would be quite the undertaking. So we’ll just have to wait and see how that turns out.

Thanks to Glowstickia for suggesting that I write this in a “choose your own adventure” kind of style. Without her suggestion, the story would have ended on the  _ Dust Covered Coma _ ending. Because I thrive on your suffering.

  
I hope you enjoyed CopyCat! Thanks for reading!


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